KEI Online Newsletter Vol.20

2021 KEI Performance Briefing

The Korea Environment Institute (KEI) hosted its 2021 performance briefing on May 21st. Subtitled ‘Laying Out Environmental Policies in the Era of Carbon Neutrality,’ this year’s briefing focused on the topics connected to achieving carbon neutrality.

The briefing consisted of four sessions for each research department of the KEI: Sustainability Strategy Research Group, Water and Land Research Group, Climate, Air Quality and Safety Research Group, and Environmental Assessment Group. In each session, two projects selected among those conducted in each department last year were introduced. General debate sessions followed where a number of invited experts participated, including professors from several of Korea’s top universities and researchers from prominent research institutions.

Laying Out Environmental Policies in the Era of Carbon Neutrality

The Sustainability Strategy Research Group introduced the modeling project for damage caused by environmental pollution with the focus on the restoration of victims’ lives, and the research on policy roadmap development for used electric vehicle (EV) batteries in relation to achieving circular economy. In the second session for the Water and Land Research Group, the research on switching to ‘smart sustainable cities’ based on the diagnosis of the current smart city plans, and the research on building a sustainable water circulation management system were presented.

The project for developing Korean Green New Deal strategies and the research on estimating the air quality changes due to fine particulate matter (PM) in relation to climate change, which are both pressing issues in South Korea at the moment, were introduced by the Climate, Energy and Safety Research Group in the third session. Lastly, the Environmental Assessment Group outlined the research on the management of non-radioactive waste after shutting down nuclear power plants, and the research on the system development for analyzing the local environmental status focusing on the environmental capacity assessment using noise maps. The full reports (Korean) with the executive summary in English are available on the official Web site of the KEI.

KEI Enters into an MOU with Korea Energy Agency

The KEI signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Korea Energy Agency on May 27th. The purpose is to promote cooperation between the two institutions to advance the policy development research and share expertise. It is expected that more integrated research on Korea's environmental and energy policy will be possible. Also, hopes are high for mutual support and collaboration in the implementation of climate policy. Activities will include joint workshops, information and technology exchange, and other cooperative activities related to the field of either party's interest.

KEI Seminars

The KEI held an expert seminar on May 28th as the special session of the spring academic conference of the Korea Society of Environmental Restoration Technology. The event was sponsored by the Ministry of Environment and co-organized by the KEI and the aforementioned institute. The purpose of the event was to establish the 'Comprehensive Plan for Green Restoration of the National Environment' and the sub-topics included the background, history, and future direction of green restoration as well as legal and technical aspects. Also, workforce increase and infrastructure development were covered.

This month, different departments hosted seminars with varied topics. On May 11th, the Division for Natural Environment hosted an online seminar with the topic of 'biodiversity policy in the era of climate crisis.'
The Division for Resource Circulation held an expert seminar on the management of untreated wastewater in the public sewerage, as part of the research project 'Reduction of Health Damage Caused by Microplastics,' on May 23rd.
The Korea Adaptation Center for Climate Change (KACCC) hosted its regular monthly seminar on May 26th with the invited speaker Park Minhee, who leads the Climate Technology Strategy Team at the Korea Institute of Energy Research. This month's topic was 'Carbon Neutrality Technologies.'

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